1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a removable door hinge for motor vehicle doors. The door hinge includes two hinge portions to be fastened to one of the structural parts of the door. The hinge portions have eye portions defining eye bores. When the hinge is assembled, the eye portions mesh with each other and a hinge pin extends through the eye bores. The two hinge portions are secured against unintentional separation over the permissible pivoting range of the hinge by means of meshing projections and recesses arranged alternatingly on the hinge portions.
2. Description of the Prior Art
In modern automobile construction, for reasons of efficiency the doors of a motor vehicle are fitted into the unfinished vehicle body. For this purpose, the two portions of the door hinges must be permanently fastened to the door and to the vehicle body in order to ensure an immovably adjusted position of the vehicle door within the motor vehicle body. However, during the further assembly of the motor vehicle, it is a disadvantage if the vehicle doors remain in the vehicle body.
Accordingly, removable door hinges are used to an increasing extent, so that the doors can be mounted in the unfinished motor vehicle body in a fixedly adjusted position, while the doors are removed from the vehicle body during the assembly of the motor vehicle and particularly the assembly of the interior fittings of the vehicle The doors are then reinstalled on the vehicle body during the final assembly of the motor vehicle. A number of different structural types of removable door hinges are known for this purpose.
In accordance with a first type of movable door hinge, the hinge portions can be separated by removing the hinge portions and can be reassembled by reinserting the hinge pin. Even though this type of construction does not require a special means for securing against unintentional separation, this door hinge is disadvantageous because of the large weight of finished motor vehicle doors which means that it is difficult to reinstall the door on the finished vehicle body.
In accordance with another type of removable door hinge for motor vehicle doors, a hinge pin permanently mounted on one of the hinge portions with running fit and without maintenance, can be inserted into an eye bore of the other hinge portion. In the assembled hinge, the two hinge portions are secured over the pivoting range of the hinge against unintentional separation by means of projections and recesses alternatingly provided in the two hinge portions. In this type of removable hinge, for reinstalling the vehicle door the hinge pin must be placed in non-rotational engagement with the hinge eye of the removable hinge portion. This type of construction is disadvantageous with respect to the configuration of the hinge eye bore and of the hinge pin and with respect to the insertion procedure of the relatively long hinge pin. In addition, since a vehicle door is relatively heavy and the relatively long hinge pins are spaced apart a comparatively greater distance from each other, it is difficult to bring into reliable engagement the members used for the non-rotational fixing of the hinge pin in the removable hinge portion.
It is, therefore, the primary object of the present invention to provide a removable door hinge for motor vehicle doors which is constructed and manufactured with as few precision parts as possible. In addition, the hinge is to enable a manipulation of the vehicle door during removal and reinstallation which is easy and not time-consuming. Moreover, a maintenance-free support of the hinge pin is to be provided without the separability of the two hinge portions resulting in the danger of a damage to the maintenance-free support.